Federal authorities have arrested a U.S. Army major working as a nurse at a Virginia military installation, accusing him of scheming to provide financial and tactical assistance to separatist militants in Cameroon, according to recently unsealed court documents.
Major Kenneth Chungag, who serves at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, allegedly leveraged his military knowledge and expertise to aid the Ambazonia Defense Forces operating in his birth country of Cameroon.
“Chungag is greatly dismayed by these charges and looks forward to a timely and just resolution of the matter,” his defense lawyer Robert Jenkins stated to The Associated Press via email Friday.
The 50-year-old naturalized American citizen and co-conspirator Mercy Akwi Ombaku faced arrest Monday on federal conspiracy allegations. Following their initial hearings in Alexandria, Virginia, a magistrate judge approved their release from jail. Federal prosecutors did not request they remain behind bars pending trial.
According to an FBI affidavit, Chungag began showing interest in supporting ADF members in 2020 while serving at Fort Meade in Maryland. The document reveals that during digital communications with ADF operatives in Cameroon, Chungag made false statements about having battlefield experience in Iraq, apparently exaggerating his military record to gain standing within the organization.
Authorities allege Chungag collaborated with Ombaku, a Maryland resident, in a scheme to send funds from the United States to Cameroon for acquiring AK-47 automatic weapons. Federal investigators believe Chungag became disenchanted with the group and distanced himself from it in 2024. Following FBI questioning about his ADF connections later that year, investigators suspect he attempted to eliminate compromising evidence by erasing ADF-related communications from his mobile device after federal agents made contact.
Cameroon, home to approximately 31 million people, has remained under Paul Biya’s leadership since 1982, establishing him as one of Africa’s most enduring heads of state. The ADF operates as a separatist armed group in southern Cameroon, seeking independence for the English-speaking territories from the central African nation.
The independence movement traces its origins to the early 1960s, following the merger of British Southern Cameroons—a UN trust territory formerly administered alongside Nigeria’s eastern region—with Cameroon. English-speaking rebels initiated an armed uprising in 2017 with the goal of creating an independent nation. According to the Belgium-based International Crisis Group, this ongoing conflict has resulted in at least 6,500 deaths and forced more than 600,000 people from their homes.
During Pope Leo XIV’s recent African visit, he conducted a peace conference last Thursday with community representatives in one of the two English-speaking regions. Separatist organizations declared a three-day ceasefire during the papal visit.
A Fort Belvoir representative confirmed Chungag’s employment as a nurse at the base’s community hospital but directed employment status inquiries to the medical facility, which has not yet responded to requests for information.
Ombaku, a 38-year-old healthcare professional from New Carrollton, Maryland, who also obtained U.S. citizenship after being born in Cameroon, faces charges of conspiring with Chungag to provide financial backing to the ADF. When FBI agents interviewed her last July, she rejected any connection to the ADF. Legal representation for Ombaku has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Fort Belvoir sits approximately 20 miles south of the nation’s capital along the Potomac River.
